


A Magic All Its Own

by MacyAudenStar



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 20:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacyAudenStar/pseuds/MacyAudenStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinder comes up with a plan that will help Winter and make the Lunar people happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Magic All Its Own

“I still don’t think this is a great idea,” Scarlet said, crossing her arms and leaning against the fireplace. She was dressed in her usual red hoodie and Cinder couldn’t help but be a little jealous. She missed her jeans and t-shirts. She was tired of having to look “presentable” all the time. Iko even did her hair for her every morning.

 

Cinder stared at her friend for a moment. The rest of them had left, going their separate ways, although she was sure Wolf was pacing in the hallway outside. “Well, I never claimed to have great ideas and yet you went along with most of them.” She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but she thought she heard Kinney snort at that. He was standing by the door, her own silent guard.

 

Cinder sighed. “I just don’t think it’s fair to ask people of the earth to have to be the ones to have a device surgically implanted onto their spine to make it so they can’t be manipulated. No one deserves that power. And it’s not fair to ask Winter to continually be a test subject. She’s already gone through two of these surgeries and come back worse for wear.”

 

“I am aware of that. I’m the one who actually travels with her,” Scarlet snapped. “But, Cinder, stepping down? Making Winter the queen? First, what did we even start that war for if you’re stepping down? Was it just so Levana couldn’t marry Kai?”

 

“That’s not fair,” Cinder interrupted. “I never wanted to be queen, not really. And you know Levana was going to be a terrible Empress. You know she was always planning to kill everyone.”

 

Scarlet frowned. “I know. I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair. But how do you know any of this is going to work?”

 

“Well,” Cinder conceded. “I don’t, not for sure. But, Scarlet, what if it does? What if the legends are true and putting Winter on the throne really will put an end to the Lunar gift? It would allow the people of Earth to stop living in fear of being manipulated. It could  _ heal  _ Winter.”

 

Scarlet pressed her lips into a thin line. “What if it doesn’t work?”

 

“Then we lose nothing and keep working on the devices.” Cinder said, slumping back in her chair.

 

“What if Winter can’t handle the responsibility?” Scarlet asked. She crossed the room and sat in the chair opposite Cinder. “I mean, I assume being queen is kind of a big deal.”

 

Cinder bit the inside of her cheek in amusement. “It’s not the easiest thing in the world. But that’s what we’re going to be here for. We’ll be her council. Even from afar. She’ll have Jacin. The Lunars love her. You know that.”

 

“It’s true,” Kinney tossed from his spot at the door. “They love Winter.”

 

Cinder almost laughed at the look of disdain on Scarlet’s face. Scarlet, of all people, knew just how much the Lunar people love Winter. “They love her more now than they will ever grow to love me. They won’t stop staring at my hand, and when I have to wear heels, my foot.”

 

“If you would just wear gloves,” Kinney said, apparently deciding he was no longer going to be the silent guard.

 

“I’m not doing that,” Cinder said, rolling her eyes. “And I’m not using my glamour.” They’d had this conversation more times than she could count. She knew Kinney was joking, but she couldn’t understand why the rest of the Lunars thought she needed to be ashamed of her cyborg parts. They never said anything to her, but she could see the disgust in their eyes.

 

“You really think it can help her?” Scarlet asked, her voice uncharacteristically small.

 

“I really do,” Cinder said. “We’ve done the research. I really think it will help.” She didn’t bother informing Scarlet that “we” actually consisted of herself, Kai, and Nainsi, but she didn’t need to. Nainsi had a way of uncovering the truth. If Nainsi said it was true, Cinder believed her.

 

Cinder stood up and tugged at a strand of hair that escaped her updo. “In the end, it should be her decision, and she said she wanted to do it. She loves these people, you know that.”

 

“I know, I know,” Scarlet agreed. “She’d make a great queen if she wasn’t so crazy.”

 

“Well, this is going to fix that,” Cinder said confidently. 

 

* * *

 

Two days later, Cinder and Winter were going to make the announcement to the rest of Luna that Winter was going to take Cinder’s place as the new queen. “Cinder,” Winter whispered before they walked out to the podium. “My feet are turning into ice cubes.”

 

Cinder frowned, unsure of how to react exactly. Jacin and Scarlet were already outside. Cinder and Winter were supposed to be making an entrance. “Hey, it’s ok, Winter. Your feet are fine, I promise.”

 

“I’m going to freeze in place,” Winter said in that sing-song way of hers. “An ice statue.”

 

“Winter, they love you out there. There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Cinder said quietly, hoping she was guessing right that Winter was nervous and that it wasn’t something else. “We’ll just walk very slow. I don’t like walking in heels anyway.”

 

“But you look very lovely, Cinder-friend,” Winter said with a sweet smile. Cinder looked down at the pale yellow dress she was wearing. It reminder her of something Peony would have picked out for her.

 

“So do you, Winter,” Cinder said. Iko picked out a light silver gown that brought out the gray in Winter’s eyes. “Come on, let’s go make our announcement.” Winter nodded and they walked outside, very slowly, as Cinder promised. But they made it nonetheless. Jacin met her eyes questioningly but she smiled at him confidently. They were going to get through this. If only Kai had been able to join them for the announcement.

 

She took a deep breath, drawing strength from her friends surrounding her. “People of Luna,” she began. “Princess Winter and I have an important announcement to make.” She really should have taken Kai up on writing the speech for her. She looked over at Winter who smiled at her. “I’ve made the decision to step down as Queen and pass the title along to Princess Winter.” There were gasps and murmurs from the crowd. This had never been done before. She continued on, explaining the decision, how it was made, leaving out that they were all hoping that the legends were true and that it would make it so they could no longer use the Lunar gift.

 

As she expected, as she stepped away from the podium, and allowed Winter to speak, there were plenty of cheers coming from the crowd. Winter seemed to draw strength from them and sounded much more confident than Cinder had been able to. Watching her, Cinder knew this had to work. Winter deserved to have a great life, not the kind of life that required her to have surgery after surgery, always concerned the walls were going to start bleeding around her.

 

* * *

 

Two months after the coronation, Cinder had to admit she was much happier not being the queen. Winter seemed to thrive. And while she still wasn’t completely fixed, the Lunars were starting to lose their gifts. It hadn’t happened immediately, like they thought it would. It seemed to be a more gradual thing. Those whose gift wasn’t strong to begin with had already lost it. But others were still holding on. Cinder could still use hers, she and Wolf tested it out, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been, and she was more than grateful.

 

Some of them seemed angry, but most of the Lunars were understanding and even agreed that they didn’t need a power to abuse like that. There was hope that families would begin to trust one another again, that bullying would die down, kids would be better behaved. And Earthen people were hopeful that they would soon be able to travel to Luna without needing to wait on the device.

 

And, most of the Lunars were just happy that Winter was queen. Which is what a lot of them had always wanted, even if they hadn’t wanted to admit it.

 

They were an hour into a meeting about how to best help the Earthen Union with the destruction that Levana’s army had caused when Winter suddenly stretched her hand out and stared at it.

 

Jacin stepped forward, concerned, but it was Scarlet who said, “What’s going on? What’s wrong with your hand?”

 

Winter took a moment before answering and everyone waited, silent. Finally she shook her head and put her hand back down. “Nothing. My fingers turned into worms and tried to crawl onto the table. But they’re better now.”

 

Cinder and Cress exchanged looks, but Scarlet just laughed. “I’m glad your fingers are fingers again, crazy.”

 

Jacin glared at her, but Winter just smiled a sweet smile at her friend. “Oh, Scarlet. What are you going to call me when I’m completely fixed?”

 

Scarlet grinned at her. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”

 

“You could try ‘Your Majesty,’” Jacin grumbled under his breath, though Cinder was pretty sure he was joking. Scarlet glared at him while Winter just grinned and went back to business.

 

Winter was a good queen. She was fair and caring. She only wanted what was best for her people, everyone could see it. Cinder was more and more confident in her decision every day, and she could tell that even Scarlet was finally fully on board. It was a good thing, and soon, she’d be back on Earth, although she would be making plenty of trips to Luna as part of Winter’s council. Cinder looked around the table at her friends and smiled a little to herself. She finally felt good about the future.


End file.
